May 30 - my last day in Cambodia

OK, I just had to show you a picture of the bathroom/shower that I used while in Cambodia. It makes for a clean toilet, getting a shower every day! ;)

The temperature control for the shower (and anywhere else) was the time of day. If I got up late, I would get a warm shower ... too warm for my liking! However, if I got up early enough, I got to enjoy a lovely cool shower! It was never too cold for me, but Christina mentioned that during the colder season, it would be hard to warm up after a frigid shower.

And this is how to flush the toilet!
My own bedroom for the 6 days I was here ...
I even got to try out a real Khmer bed too.
Rachel, Christina & Sopheary at the airport saying farewell to me. Thank you for helping me get a small taste of what it's like in Phnom Penh! Next time, I'll definitely have to go out of the city, but because I didn't end up leaving the capital, I was able to stop taking my Malaria meds early. So now I have 9 days worth of meds for the next time I go to a country that has Malaria!
Goodbye for now!

Dentist, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), PT (Physiotherapy) House

May 29 - Christina & I went with Sopheary this morning to the dentist at the Christian Medical Centre. She had lots of work to be done since she hadn't learned any dental hygiene or had dental work done for all her life (she's in her early 20's). The centre provides the sessions for a minimal fee, to help those who can't afford it ... and Sopheary definitely fits into that category (they would charge lots more for foreigners, because they can afford it ... it's a good system). This was her 2nd visit.

After that, we toured around town and visited the 'park' where there's a Buddhist temple. There are lots of people here, many stands with people selling stuff, this elephant and a bunch of monkeys.





Common sight with multiple people/families on motos.
These pictures were taken from the tuk-tuk after Christina & I visited the CSC and we were on our way to find the PT House. It was hard to find, but we finally located it. I had the opportunity to work on one of the residents for a very brief time. The burns were so disfiguring that I didn't even ask if they would allow me to take pictures.


Our tuk-tuk driver (& the Murrayville boot) for the past 3 days.
Self-photo with Rachel & Christina. The glow on our skin is due to the Cambodian heat (very humid)! And Rachel can gauge the level of humidity based on how curly Christina's hair is that day:) lol

Khmer lesson, Genicide Museum & the waterfront

May 28 - Language lesson with Sopheary. It was the church that she attends that we were at yesterday. That may be how Christina found it?!?
I didn't take any pictures at the Genocide Museum, but the tour was very stirring. The tour guide who told us about it in English was actually 10 years old when the horrors started. She lost most of her family during Pol Pot's reign. I will try to post more about it later.

After that, we went for a walk on the waterfront. Here are some pictures:






Back in the tuk-tuk.

Yay, our driver has even started wearing a helmet! Christina says that he never used to have one, but one day he did. He doesn't wear it all the time ... perhaps just when going into the city more?!?
This is the driver that they usually call when they need a tuk-tuk. We had him as our driver all 3 days we used a one. We basically hired him all day and he would wait for us. It cost less than $10 US/day! Amazing.

Khmer church service

May 27 - We took a tuk-tuk to church. I wasn't keen on getting on the moto again after our wipe out yesterday on the way to the palace. Totally not Christina's fault ... it's hard to dodge bicycles that catapult themselves right into your path! At least it happened in front of a repair shop, so they fixed the basket & re-attached it, did other minor repairs and we were on our way to the palace again within 5 minutes! I had some Air France wet wipes with me, so we cleaned our scrapes when we got to the there. Improvising a first aid kit! ;)

There was an uncommon sight ... the helmet of the moto driver (perhaps it's a foreigner).Lunch after church. They purchase the food from the same vendor every Sunday. Another great meal.

from Texas (actually, he's from Michigan, but I could only understand him when he wasn't preaching. The sermon was in Khmer).

This is the beautiful skirt I borrowed from Christina to go to church in. Pants are not typically worn by women at church (although I wore pants any other time I was out in public).

Love Power Café & The Royal Palace

May 25 - Lunch at the Love Power Café with Chakrya (1 of Christina's Khmer tutors), Andrea, Rachel (C's housemate), a lady from Holland who also works at International Cooperation Cambodia with C & R (I forget her name) and Christina. (Clockwise from bottom left).

This is where I had my very 1st Bubble Milk Tea. I think I had the mango one (perhaps that wasn't a real bubble milk tea, but it tasted VERY GOOD)! They served them in these huge and wonderful Christmas mugs. (With the temperature being a very humid 35 degrees C, it just didn't seem to feel very Christmas-y, but at least the drinks were nice and cold)!
At the Royal Palace on May 26. Hmmm, I think it looks like it's going to rain ...
Uh ... yup, torrential rain!

It brought out the beautiful green! And that river in the foreground ... that's really a road!


I love the landscaping designs!
The background is a Buddhist Temple. There were a number of monks there, some of whom were just boys - so sad to see them getting caught up in it so young.

Christina posing like the dancers do. The hat is part of the costume they perform in.

Various instruments ...




Statue of a king on horseback (I can't recall if it's the present king or a previous one).
On the way home, we had a wonderful dinner at a Khmer restaurant that is one of Christina's favourites. I didn't get a picture of it though.

Holland to Thailand to Cambodia. The longest travelling day so far!

May 23 - The plane that I will spend the next 10 and a half hours flying on. The time is 20:16. Good thing there were stairs on this flight ... I used them at one time during the flight to keep the circulation in my legs going. :)
May 24 - At the airport in Thailand (just after 08:00 Holland time, which makes it 13:00 Thailand time).

Old faithful is following along. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ..."

The king is highly respected in Thailand. 'King Power' was a common slogan posted throughout the airport, and I suspect, throughout the whole country.

Displays like this were common in the airport.

I digress from flying with the 'around the world partners.' To get to Cambodia, I needed to find my own ride, so to speak. I enjoyed Bangkok Air ... I was allowed in their flight lounge, so I was able to check my emails, get some food (they had some very interesting fruit) and just rest before I set out for the next leg of the journey.